[6][7] Munitions had reportedly detonated after a fire started on May 13, which thus caused a massive chain of explosions on May 17, and resulted in the deaths of at least 200–300 people, and the destruction of at least 900 of the Northern Fleet's missiles and torpedoes.

[8] At the time of the disaster, the Northern Fleet was believed to have an aircraft carrier, 148 cruisers, destroyers and other warships, and 190 of the navy's 371 submarines, of which two were apparently stationed at the munitions depot.

For about an hour and a half, sporadic blasts occurred at the supply depot, that resulted in the deaths of between 200–300 people,[11] most of whom were ordnance technicians that had been "sent into the fire in a desperate but unsuccessful effort to defuse or disassemble munitions before they exploded", according to The New York Times.

[4] The blast and the evacuation were described on a Russian navy blog: Women ran into the streets with children in their arms, many only half dressed in house coats and slippers, the men running henny-penny with them, certain of them in uniform, giving the scene a weird drama.

Screams, cries, curses – all drowned out by the thunder and howl from the volcano that was Mount Okol'naya [the apparent namesake of the Okolnaya Naval Munitions depot, where the incident had begun days earlier].